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Two Events that Gripped the World

Vaclav Havel’s Personal Photographer to Exhibit in Alberta.

A photographic exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia opened in Edmonton International Airport on Monday, July 30, 2018.

Twenty large panels explore Edmonton photographer Jan Novotny’s photographic and written journey through the gradual liberalization of Czechoslovakia from 1965 to the crushing of the Prague Spring by Soviet troops in 1968. Twenty stunning images by Tomki Nemec—personal photographer for writer, dissident and statesman Vaclav Havel—capture Havel’s humanity, humour, glamour and influence as he emerges as Czechoslovakia’s accidental politician, or philosopher king, during the Velvet Revolution of the late 1980s that brought a bloodless end to Czech communism.

Assembling this show in Canada is an impressive achievement brought about with the sponsorship of the Czechoslovak Society for Arts and Sciences, the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies, Carlson Construction, and the Edmonton Community Foundation.

It will show from July 30 to August 27 at Edmonton International Airport, and will then hang at Edmonton City Hall from September 1 to 21. Additional locations in Edmonton and Calgary will follow from then until November 30, 2018. It is one of several events celebrating the 100th anniversary of creation of Czechoslovakia.